So, RWBY... I don't know.

[Kolby Jack]

RWBY is a confusing show for me. The action, as always, is AMAZING. That's never been in question. The setting is unique and the characters are clearly not just one-note archetypes. The voice acting is pretty good considering most of the main voices are done by people who haven't done much, if any, voice acting before. The plot hasn't really spun-up completely yet, but it's only a few episodes in.

It's just... so... anime? I guess? It just feels weird to me to watch an anime made by fans of anime. Anime's style developed over decades of shaping and evolving, and here it just feels like they're aping it. Not like Teen Titans or Avatar, which are anime-esque but were still clearly western shows. RWBY pulls gags straight from anime. It might just be me not used to seeing a lot of these gags in 3D, maybe, but I just get the feeling that, unlike other anime-esque shows, Monty and the crew had the mindset of "let's make an anime" when they conceived this, and I can't help but find it a little off-putting. It's anime for the sake of anime, which takes it beyond just a stylistic choice to me.

Also, the non-fighting animation is not that great. It's just weird seeing these intricately designed characters in front of a backdrop and people that look like cardboard cutouts. Or to see them sliding diagonally across a field when their animation is clearly them running straight. I realize these are because of budget and personnel constraints, and I'm not going to fault them for it, but it still detracts from the quality of the show.

That said, I'm still interested to see where it goes and what will happen as it matures. God knows Red vs Blue has gone through many changes over the years, not that it's fair to compare the two shows.

Anyone else watching this series? What do you think of it so far?

 

[Kolby Jack]

I'm pretty meh on the anime aspect, but the biggest problem I have with this series is the animation. The fights are great, but everything else is straying too close to the Uncanny Valley. I guess it's because they first used the same kind of CGI for the fights in Red Vs. Blue, but in that series they didn't need to animate non-fighting CGI because they could already do it via machinima. Here, the problem's even more prominent because now they also have to animate faces, which means both awkward expressions and more human-looking characters; and thus a bigger descent into the Uncanny Valley when combined with the current animation.

They're cartoons. I don't think what you're describing is the uncanny valley phenomenon, just lackluster animation. Uncanny Valley is for things that are almost, but not exactly, human-like. Anime characters aren't even close.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

For what it is, a low budget CGI web series that's a tribute to anime with 5 - 12 minute episodes, I think it's fine. I like it so far.

It's not like I'm expecting Pixars or anything from this.

 

[Keoul]

I wouldn't call it anime...
These shows just emulate the anime style, and even then the anime style is extremely varied.

But anyway, RWBY is a pretty great show but as already mentioned it's the animation that kinda throws me off. But for me it's not that big of a deal, it's still a great show.

 

[Alhazred]

I feel that RWBY was seriously undermined by those four incredible trailers. When the characters are flying around at Mach 3 hitting baddies with some of the most stupidly cool weaponry conceived by man, you don't really notice tha quality of the animation. The trailers primed us for a series filled with wall-to-wall asskicking, and when it turned out there was a whole lot less asskicking and a whole lot more high-school banter, it's easy to feel a little dissapointed.

Personally, I would have had RWBY start with the characters as full-fledged monster hunters, each pursuing a separate goal. As the series went on, it would be revealed that each of these seperate storylines were interconnected, leading to the characters meeeting each other. That way, we could have more action and less awkward banter.

 

[Legion]

Odd, maybe I don't watch enough anime but I don't get that kind of vibe from it at all. The visual style certainly has aspects of it, but they don't talk or act like typical anime characters, they are very "Western".

Or to put it another way, if you took what they have done but put it in a complete anime style with Japanese language and subs, I'd imagine the difference between it and normal anime would be extremely noticeable.

I am really enjoying it so far, even though I only started watching it around the time episode 5 was released, as I was wondering whether to bother. My only real issues are the fact that most episodes are really short (around 4 minutes once you take away the intro and outro) and the animation is occasionally a little off.

With the episode length I guess that is both a good and a bad thing. Bad in that I feel it's short, but the fact that I feel that way means I enjoy it enough to want more of it.

The animation I think is one of those things that is purely down to it being kind of new for them. Look at early Critical Miss strips compared to the recent ones (or pretty much any webcomic artists for that matter). Once they get the hang of it I suspect it will start to become a lot smoother and fluid.

I love the characters themselves, they all have their own unique personalities and style which is really cool. The banter and conversation is normally really good, although every now and again it is a little odd (again, it's still early days).

Apart from the two things mentioned above, the only thing I'd change is maybe less of the "cartoony stuff" such as the going strange when hit on the head and stuff. Not because I particularly dislike it, but because it feels a little jarring with the 3D animation and makes it visually seem a lot more amateurish, although perhaps when they get better with the technical side it will also fit in a little better.

Personally I hope they manage to keep this going. It's a bit of a rough gem (Hah! I have been waiting to use that pun, sorry) and I think it has a lot of potential. I'd love to see it end up being at a professional quality level with regular "normal" length episodes. Maybe if it becomes popular enough to get a higher budget.

 

[Saulkar]

I do not mind it, at the same time I often hear people (coworkers) harping on it for trying to emulate anime. The way they often word it puts it like this: Anime can only be developed in Japan because its anime and is not a cartoon but something intrinsically superior, it cannot be any other way.

At the same time I am one of those hardasses that refuses to draw any distinction between western and eastern animation outside of visual and cultural aesthetics. It is still a cartoon and manga is still a comic or graphic novel, as per length. As such I cannot fault it for its style, only its production quality which is decent considering that it is incredibly low budget.

Then again, this was created by one guy (Tyson Ibele) in 1-2 months despite already having a full-time job.

Spoiler: Some Horror Violence